Sample rack moving mechanism, sample rack conveying device and sample analyzing equipment

ABSTRACT

A sample rack moving mechanism is provided for removing a sample rack loaded with one or more sample containers from a temporary storing section, and returning the sample rack loaded with the sample containers holding the tested sample to the temporary storing section. The sample rack moving mechanism may include a drive element, a cam driven by the drive element to rotate and having a curve contour, a cam follower moving following the outer contour of the cam, a guide groove corresponding to the temporary storing section, having a bottom plane of the same height as a support plane of the temporary storing section for supporting the sample rack, and capable of moving the sample rack, and a support element driven by the cam follower to move upward and downward and driving the sample rack to horizontally move between the temporary storing section and the guide groove.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/295,892, filed Oct. 17, 2016, for “SAMPLE RACK MOVING MECHANISM,SAMPLE RACK CONVEYING DEVICE AND SAMPLE ANALYZING EQUIPMENT,” which is acontinuation of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2014/075617, filed Apr. 17,2014, both applications of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to medical equipments, and, to a samplerack moving mechanism for removing a sample rack that holds one or morecollected sample containers containing a sample from a temporary holdingposition and returning it thereto, a sample rack conveying device formoving the removed sample rack to an analyzing and testing position andreturning the sample rack that holds the sample container containing thetested samples to the temporary holding position, and a medical testingequipment including the sample rack moving mechanism, the sample rackconveying device and a device for analyzing and testing the conveyedsamples, and also suitable in medical testing environment or otheranalyzing and testing environments.

BACKGROUND

Sample tubes are usually adopted to collect samples of blood and bodyfluid to be analyzed in medical equipments. The sample tubes aregenerally inserted into a sample rack, such that one sample rack canstore a plurality of sample tubes, thus facilitating movement andstorage of the sample tubes while improving testing efficiency. Manymedical equipments adopt a combination of the sample rack and the sampletubes. The sample rack with the inserted sample tubes is directlyconveyed into the equipments for sample analysis, thereby enablingsimple and convenient operation of such equipments. Although variousequipments have different ways of conveying the sample rack inside it,the purpose is to convey the sample rack by means of a moving shaft,such that each sample in the sample tube in the sample rack can beanalyzed. It is required that, during the period of conveying, eachsample tube can accurately reach the testing places without tilting,rolling or damaging.

At present, there are two main solutions of conveying the sample rack bythe medical equipment: one is to move the sample rack up and down, andthe other is to translate the sample rack in a guide groove. The lattersolution requires the sample rack to move back and forth, where apositioning pin can be protruded to be inserted into a positioning holein the sample rack and the sample rack can be driven to move by anothershaft or other shafts. The translation solution requires a positioninghole disposed in the sample rack, and this leads to a high requirementon the location accuracy of the positioning hole. However, sincemanufacturing tolerance may affect the positioning accuracy of a movingshaft, the positioning pin, when being protruded, is likely to bepressed against the sample rack, rather than being successfully insertedinto the positioning hole. In this case, the moving shaft may be stuck,or the sample rack may be tilted to cause splashed liquids.

Considering a power part of the moving shaft, a motor as a power sourcemay be used to drive the moving mechanism when the medical equipmentsare electrically controlled. The motor can be a rotary motor, in whichcase rotary movement is required to be converted into linear movement. Amotor which is capable of moving linearly may lead to a specialstructure, a high cost and a large size. On the other hand, the rotarymotor requires an intermediate transmission mechanism, thus increasingequipment manufacturing cost and occupation space. Therefore, there arehigh design requirements on the structure of the intermediate mechanism,the size of the occupation space and the transmission accuracy.

SUMMARY

This disclosure provides a sample rack moving mechanism having a simpleand compact structure, enabling accurate and reliable transmission, andcapable of avoiding tilting of sample tubes and splashing of liquids.

In one aspect, a sample rack moving mechanism may be provided, where thesample rack moving mechanism may cooperate with a storing section loadedwith one or more sample racks, and is capable of removing the sampleracks loaded with one or more sample containers from a holding positionon the storing section and/or returning the sample racks loaded with theone or more sample containers to the storing section. The sample rackmoving mechanism may include a first drive element, a cam, a camfollower, a second drive element, a guide groove and a support element.The cam may include a curve contour and be driven by the first driveelement. The cam follower may cooperate with the cam and follow alongthe curve contour of the cam. The guide groove may correspond to aposition of the storing section, so as to move the sample racks from theholding position to the guide groove. Here, a length direction of theguide groove and a movement direction of the sample racks disposed onthe storing section may be substantially along a same direction, and abottom plane of the guide groove may be of a substantially same heightas a support plane of the storing section for placing the sample racks.The support element may be fixed on the cam follower and driven by thecam follower to move upward and downward, so as to be detachablyconnected with the sample racks. The support element is capable ofdriving, through connection with the second drive element, the sampleracks to substantially horizontally move between the storing section andthe guide groove.

In another aspect, a sample rack conveying device may be provided. Thesample rack conveying device may include a storing section, theabove-described sample rack moving mechanism and a conveying member,where the conveying member is capable of conveying the guide groove andone of the sample racks on the guide groove along a directionsubstantially perpendicular to the length direction of the guide groove.

In yet another aspect, a sample analyzing equipment can be provided,where the sample analyzing equipment can include the above-describedsample conveying device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly describe technical solutions according toembodiments of the present disclosure, accompanying drawings used in theembodiments will be briefly introduced hereinafter. Apparently, theaccompanying drawings described hereinafter should be substantiallyconsidered to be illustrative, not limitative, and are merelyexpressions of the embodiments and examples of the present disclosure.Persons skilled in the art may also derive other different embodimentsfrom these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic assembly diagram for a combination structure of acam and a support element according to an embodiment of a sample rackmoving mechanism of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded diagram for a combination structure of a cam and asupport element according to an embodiment of a sample rack movingmechanism of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view for a cam of a sample rack moving mechanismaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a first schematic structural diagram for a sample rack movingmechanism of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a second schematic structural diagram for a sample rack movingmechanism of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a first schematic structural diagram for a sample rackconveying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a second schematic structural diagram for a sample rackconveying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a third schematic structural diagram for a sample rackconveying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a fourth schematic structural diagram for a sample rackconveying device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10A is a schematic view illustrating when a support element of asample rack conveying device is at a low location according to thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 10B is a schematic view illustrating when a support element of asample rack conveying device is at a high location according to thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 11A is a schematic view illustrating when a support element of asample rack conveying device is located at a temporary storing sectionaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 11B is a schematic view illustrating when a support element of asample rack conveying device is located at a guide groove according tothe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure is further described in detail hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments, in order to morefully understand the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of thepresent disclosure. It should be understood that, the embodimentsdescribed herein are merely for explaining the present disclosure, notlimiting it.

It should be noted that, the term “sample” used in the presentapplication, refers to any sample of body fluid and blood which can becontained in sample tubes to be analyzed. The sample includes, but isnot limited to, materials (including biological materials collected onswabs from such as throat, vagina, cartilage, rectum, urethra, nose ornasopharynx swabs), fluid, urine, blood, saliva, serum, plasma, feces,inspiration, washing liquor, tissue homogenate and treatment solution.

When an element is “connected”, “fixed” or “disposed” as stated toanother element, it may be connected, fixed or disposed to anotherelement directly or via an intermediate element.

It should be further noted that, direction terminologies, such as“left”, “right”, “upper”, “lower”, “transverse”, “longitudinal” and thelike, are merely concepts relative to each other, or are referred tounder normal using state of products, and thus should not be consideredto be limitative.

As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 9, a sample rack moving mechanism accordingto an embodiment of the present application may be disposed to cooperatewith a temporary storing section 2 loaded with one or more sample racks5, where one or more sample tubes that contain(s) sample(s) for testingmay be arranged on each sample rack 5. The sample rack moving mechanismmay be used for removing the sample rack 5 from a temporary holdingposition on the temporary storing section 2, and returning the samplerack 5 in which the sample(s) have/has been subjected to a test in atesting position to the temporary storing section 2. The sample rackmoving mechanism may include a vertical movement member 1 as shown inFIG. 1 to FIG. 2 (moving along a Z-axis direction as shown in Figs.) anda longitudinal movement member 3 (moving along a Y-axis direction asshown in Figs.). The vertical movement member 1 may include acombination of a cam and a support element, where the vertical movementmay include a base 105, a first drive element, the cam 106, a camfollower 107, and the support element 108. The base 105 may be fixableon a worktable (not shown), and may be used for supporting and mountingrespective members. The first drive element may be a first rotary motor111. The cam 106, which can be provided with a preset curve contour, maybe fixedly connected with the first rotary motor 111 and driven by thefirst rotary motor 111 to rotate. The cam follower 107 may cooperatewith the cam 106 and move following the curve contour of the cam 106.The support element 108 may be fixedly connected to the cam follower107, and the support element 108 can be driven by the first rotary motor111 to move upward and downward (in the Z-axis direction as shown inFigs.), so as to be detachably connected with or detached from thesample rack 5 following the movement of the cam follower 107 along thecontour track of the cam 106. The longitudinal movement member 3 mayinclude a second drive element 301 and a movable guide groove 308, andoperate for moving the sample rack 5 from the temporary holding positionto the guide groove 308. The guide groove 308 may be disposedcorresponding to the temporary storing section 2, where the guide groovemay be parallel with each grid of the temporary storing section 2. Alength direction of the guide groove 308 and a movement direction of thesample rack 5 on the temporary storing section 2 are substantially alonga same direction (substantially along a same line for instance), and abottom plane of the guide groove 308 is of the substantially same heightas a support plane of the temporary storing section 2 for placing thesample rack 5 (i.e., the bottom plane and the support plane are locatedon a substantially same horizontal plane), thus facilitating moving thesample rack 5 from the temporary holding position to the guide groove308. Furthermore, the support element 108 may be connected to the seconddrive element 301. In this way, the support element 108 may be firstdriven by the second drive element 301 to move longitudinally (theY-axis direction as shown in Figs.) from the guide groove 308 to abottom of the sample rack 5 to be moved on the temporary storing section2. Then, the support element 108 may be moved upward (the Z-axisdirection) by means of the rotation of the cam 106, such that thesupport element 108 may be detachably connected to the sample rack 5.Then, the support element 108 may be driven, by means of a reverseoperation of the second drive element 301, for removing the sample rack5 from the temporary storing section 2 and for returning the sample rack5 to the guide groove 308. Correspondingly, after the sample within thesample tube on the sample rack 5 is tested, the support element 108 maybe driven by the second drive element 301 to move the sample rack 5longitudinally and to return the sample rack 5 to a designated positionon the temporary storing section 2. Then, the support element 108 may bedetached from the sample rack 5 by means of the cooperation of the firstrotary motor 111, the cam 106 and the cam follower 107.

Compared to other mechanism converting rotary movement into linearmovement, cam transmission is adopted by the aforementioned sample rackmoving mechanism according to the present disclosure. In this way, thesample rack moving mechanism can have a simple, small and compactstructure to be used in those equipments having small internal space,and it can be advantageous to cooperate and arrange the sample rackmoving mechanism with other relating mechanisms. Moreover, the verticalmovement of the support element 108 depends on the curve contour of thecam 106, such that an intermittent movement of the support element 108can be realized during the process of moving the sample rack 5, andthere can be good movement reliability to meet functional requirements.Also, an output shaft of the first rotary motor 111 may be directlyconnected with the cam 106 without other intermediate elements toprovide rotary actuation, and the rotary motor can be low in cost,convenient in commercial availability and good in universality.Furthermore, since the cam transmission of the cam 106 has a hightransmission accuracy, the support element 108 may be conveniently andaccurately located at the bottom of the sample rack 5, such that thesupport element 108 may be easily designed according to the structure ofthe sample rack 5 and the support element 108 can be ensured to havegood contact with the sample rack 5 to achieve the moving and supportingfunctions. On the other hand, the guide groove 308 can be disposedoppositely to the temporary storing section 2, such that the lengthdirection of the guide groove 308 and the movement direction of thesample rack 5 in the temporary storing section 2 are substantially alonga same line, and the bottom plane of the guide groove 308 is of thesubstantially same height as the support plane of the temporary storingsection 2 for supporting the sample rack 5. Accordingly, it can beensured that the movement of the sample rack 5, when removing from orreturning to the temporary storing section 2, is substantially along thesame line and on the same horizontal plane, such that the sample rackcan be prevented from stucking or tipping to avoid splashing of thesamples during the moving process.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the cam 106 may include a main body 1061 which may be adisk-shaped component surrounding the output shaft of the first rotarymotor 111 and have a fixation position deviating from a rotary center ofthe cam 106 (i.e., eccentrically disposed on the output shaft of thefirst rotary motor 111). The main body 1061 may include a cam groove1062, where according to the movement of the support element 108, thecam groove 1062 may be provided with a nearest dwell angle for locatingthe support element 108 at the bottom (a lower position) of the samplerack 5, a push-travel motion angle for causing the support element 108to move upward so as to be detachably connected with the sample rack 5and a farthest dwell angle for locating the support element 108 at ahighest position to be connected with the sample rack 5. The supportelement 108 may be provided with a pin shaft 120 protruding outward. Thecam follower 107 may be an annular roller surrounding the pin shaft 120,and may be inserted and fixed within the cam groove 1062 by a snap ring119. The snap ring 119 may block the cam follower 107 to prevent the camfollower 107 from falling and facilitate the replacement of the camfollower 107 when it is worn. In this way, when the cam 106 is driven bythe first rotary motor 111 to rotate, the cam follower 107 can beenabled to slide in the cam groove 1062, so as to drive the supportelement 108 to move upward and downward.

Further referring to FIG. 3, the main body 1061 can have a kidney-shapedouter contour, and a center of the kidney-shaped structure may deviatefrom the rotary center of the cam. The cam groove 1062 may be anarc-shaped groove penetrating through the disk-shaped cam, where the camgroove 1062 may be disposed adjacent to the outer contour of the cam anda curvature of the cam groove is substantially the same as that of theouter contour of the cam. Such structure may ensure the motion stabilityof the cam 106 during its movement, and regular shape design isadvantageous for manufacture processing to ensure manufacture accuracy.Also, when the cam groove 1062 is provided adjacent to the outer contourof the main body 1061 and the curvature of the cam groove issubstantially the same as that of the outer contour, the cam groove 1062can be provided with a longer motion curve, thus not only enabling asmaller and more compact cam 106 but also facilitating processing andcost reducing.

It can be understood that, the cam 106 is not limited to theaforementioned disc-shaped or kidney-shaped structure, while the camgroove is also not limited to the arc-shaped groove structure.Alternatively, a moving cam, a cylindrical cam or other cam structuremay also be adopted, and a spring may enable the support element 108 toreturn.

Referring to FIG. 2 again, the first rotary motor 111 may be fixed on afirst mounting plate 101. The first mounting plate 101 may be verticallydisposed and fixed on the base 105 by a screw 117. The first rotarymotor 111 may be fixed on one side of the first mounting plate 101 by ascrew 122, and a top of the first rotary motor 111 may be covered by afirst protective cover 110. The first protective cover 110 may be fixedon the top of the first mounting plate 101 by a screw 109, so as toprevent damages to the first rotary motor 111 due to liquid splashing onthe first rotary motor 111 when the sample rack 5 is moving. The supportelement 108 and the cam 106 can be located on another side of the firstmounting plate 101 opposite to the first rotary motor 111. A throughhole may be provided on the first mounting plate 101. The output shaftof the first rotary motor 111 may pass through this through hole, and aV-shaped groove may be disposed on the output shaft in a radialorientation. The main body 1061 of the cam may be fixed to the outputshaft of the first rotary motor 111 by a set screw 118, and can bedriven by the first rotary motor 111 to rotate. A first guide rail 103may be further disposed on the first mounting plate 101 facing thesupport element 108, where the first guide rail 103 can be fixed by ascrew 115. Accordingly, a slide block 112 capable of cooperating withthe first guide rail 103 to slide may be correspondingly disposed on asurface of the support element 108 facing the first guide rail 103,where the slide block may be fixed to the support element 108 by a screw116. In this way, the support element 108 may be driven by the camfollower 107 to move upward and downward along the first guide rail 103through the cooperation between the first guide rail 103 and the slideblock 112.

It can be understood that, the cooperation of the first guide rail 103and the slide block 112 may be designed in some other ways. The firstguide rail 103 may be integrally formed with the first mounting plate101. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, a mounting groove may beprovided on the first mounting plate 101. The first guide rail 103 maybe embedded and fixed in the mounting groove, so as to ensure themounting accuracy of the first guide rail 103, while reducing the weightof the first mounting plate 101. Similarly, the slide block 112 may beintegrally formed with the support element 108. Alternatively, a slideslot may be disposed on the first mounting plate 101, while a slidercooperating with the slide slot may protrude from the support element108. Furthermore, linear bearings may be adopted in other example, whichare not discussed herein.

In order to reduce the weight of the whole sample rack moving mechanism,as shown in FIG. 1, an interference avoiding groove 113 may be providedon the base 105 corresponding to the bottom of the cam 106 according toa swing arc of the cam 106, so as to reduce the weight of the base 105and reduce an overall mounting height of the support element 108.Similarly, a through slot 114 may be provided in the mounting positionof the screw 115 on the support element 108, thus not only facilitatingmounting the first guide rail 103, but also enabling the support element108 to be more adjacent to the first mounting plate 101 so as to reducethe space between the first guide rail 103 and the slide block 112 andmake the whole structure be more compact.

Referring to FIG. 4 to FIG. 9, the second drive element 301 may be asecond rotary motor fixed at one end of a support base 307 in anembodiment of the present disclosure. The support base 307 may be usedfor supporting the whole vertical movement member 1 and the longitudinalmovement member 3. The guide groove 308 may be connected with thesupport base 307 via a second protective cover 309, where the guidegroove 308 may be located above the support base 307. The verticalmovement member 1 may be disposed within a space enclosed by the secondprotective cover 309, thus preventing liquid and foreign objects fromcontaminating the movement members. A first driving wheel 302 may bedisposed on the output shaft of the second rotary motor, and a firstdriven wheel 305 may be disposed corresponding to the first drivingwheel 302, where the first driven wheel 305 can be fixed at another endof the support base 307 via a first fixation base 306. A firsttransmission belt 303 may be connected between the first driving wheel302 and the first driven wheel 305. A second guide rail 304 can bedisposed in parallel with a transmission direction of the firsttransmission belt 303. A length direction of the second guide rail 304may be substantially the same as the movement direction of the samplerack 5 on the temporary storing section 2. One end of the base 105 ofthe vertical movement member 1 may be connected with the firsttransmission belt 303, while another end of the base may be slidablydisposed on the second guide rail 304. In this way, the verticalmovement member 1 may be driven by the second drive element 301 to movelongitudinally (the Y-axis direction) along the second guide rail 304through the guidance of the second guide rail 304 and the movement ofthe first transmission belt 303, such that the sample rack 5 may bedriven by the support element 108 to move between the temporary storingsection 2 and the guide groove 308.

In the aforementioned structure, the first transmission belt 303 may bea synchronous belt, and may further be provided with a drag chain 310.Accordingly, the first transmission belt can have accurate and reliabletransmission, a small load, a compact structure, and high transmissionefficiency.

It can be understood that, the second drive element 301 may also be alinear cylinder, and the sample rack 5 may also be driven to movebetween the temporary storing section 2 and the guide groove 308 byconnecting the support element 108 with a piston rod of the cylinder.However, such a structure has a higher cost compared to the mode oftransmission by a synchronous belt, and its movement distance is alsoreadily restricted. Alternatively, a combination of a nut and a leadscrew may be adopted for transmission. The support element 108 can beconnected with the nut. The sample rack may be moved by rotating thelead screw relatively to the nut to drive the support element 108 tomove. Moreover, the aforementioned functions may also be realized by alinear bearing. Thus, all those structures should fall within theprotection scope of the present disclosure, as long as they can enablethat the sample rack 5 may be driven by the support element 108 to movebetween the temporary storing section 2 and the guide grooves 308.

Please referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2 again, the support element 108 inan embodiment of the present disclosure can be a fork 108 with anopening 1081, where the opening 1081 may be provided with a supportingsurface. The support element 108 may be driven by the cam 106 and thecam follower 107 to move to the bottom and/or two sides of the samplerack 5, and raised (the Z-axis direction as shown in Figs.) after beinghorizontally positioned, so as to be connected with and support thesample rack 5. In this embodiment, the sample rack 5 may be held by thefork, where a bottom surface of the fork can be located at asubstantially same height as the support plane of the temporary storingsection 2 for supporting the sample rack 5, and claws 1082 at both endsof the fork may be used to push the sample rack 5, such that the samplerack 5 can move back and forth between the temporary storing section 2and the guide groove 308. The fork 108 can be higher than other membersof the vertical movement member 1 after being raised, thus avoiding alarger space requirement compared to other linear moving mechanisms inwhich the movement members need to be supported at both ends. A size ofthe opening 1081 can match a bottom size of the sample rack 5, or can begreater than the sample rack 5 (when the sample rack 5 and the fork 108are aligned centrally, a distance between the claws 1082 and a contactsurface of the sample rack 5 may be set to be about 2.5 MM). In thisway, the fork 108 may readily receive the sample rack 5, thus avoidingpositioning inaccurately, failing to receive the sample rack 5 ortipping the sample rack 5 by the fork 108, and having a high reliabilityand a very simple structure.

It can be understood that, the structure enabling to position thesupport element 108 relative to the sample rack 5 and to support thesample rack 5 using the support element 108 is not limited to the forkor the illustrated structure. All those structures should fall withinthe protection scope of the present disclosure, as long as they canenable that the sample rack 5 may be supported and driven to movehorizontally.

Please referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 2 again, an optical coupler 102 canbe further disposed on the first mounting plate 101. A through slot canbe disposed in the optical coupler 102; for instance, the through slotmay be perpendicularly arranged relative to the optical coupler. Here, agroove may be provided on the first mounting plate 101, and the opticalcoupler 102 can be positioned and fixed in the groove by a screw 121, soas to ensure the mounting accuracy of the optical coupler 102. A lightblocking plate 104 capable of cooperating with the optical coupler 102may be disposed on the support element 108 correspondingly. When thesupport element 108 moves upward or downward, an isolation signal can beproduced when the light blocking plate 104 passes through the throughslot of the optical coupler 102, and the first rotary motor 111 may becontrolled, by transmitting the isolation signal to a drive circuit, tobe turned on or off and in turn to control the rotation of the cam 106,so as to raise or lower the support element 108. The first rotary motor111, the first guide rail 103 and the light blocking plate 104 can allbe mounted on the first mounting plate 101, thereby guaranteeing therelative mounting accuracy of those members and a simple structure.

Referring to FIG. 6 to FIG. 9, the present disclosure further provides asample rack conveying device capable of conveying the guide groove 308on the sample rack moving mechanism and the sample rack 5 in this guidegroove 308 to a target testing position. The sample rack conveyingdevice can include the temporary storing section 2, the aforementionedsample rack moving mechanism and a transverse conveying member 4, wherethe transverse conveying member is capable of driving the whole samplerack moving mechanism to move. By means of the transverse conveyingmember 4, after the sample rack 308 has been separated from thetemporary storing section 2 and located in the guide groove 308, thesample rack 308 holding the sample to be tested may be conveyed,together with the guide groove 308, to a testing platform (i.e., beconveyed to the target testing position along an X-axis direction asshown in Figs.), or the sample rack 5 on which the sample has beentested can be conveyed from the testing platform to an initial positionwhere the sample rack moving mechanism begins moving transversely, andthen be moved by the sample rack moving mechanism from the guide groove308 to the temporary storing section 2. The initial position can be aposition where the sample rack 5 is moved from the temporary holdingposition on the temporary storing section 2 to the guide groove 308; theinitial position can also be a beginning position from which thetransverse conveying member 4 begins driving the guide groove 308 andthe sample rack 5 to move to the target testing position, or a positionwhere the transverse conveying member 4 stops moving after returningfrom the target testing position. Using the aforementioned structure, aconveying distance of the sample rack 5 is enabled to become longer,thus being advantageous for switching of different test platforms.

In an embodiment of a sample rack conveying device of the presentdisclosure, the transverse conveying member 4 can include a third driveelement 402 and a third guide rail 405. The third drive element 402 maybe a third rotary motor fixed on the worktable via a second mountingplate 401. A second driving wheel 403 may be connected with an outputshaft of the third rotary motor, and a second driven wheel 406 may bedisposed along a length direction of the third guide rail 405. Thesecond driven wheel 406 may be fixed on the worktable via a secondfixation base 407. A second transmission belt 404 may be connectedbetween the second driving wheel 403 and the second driven wheel 406.The support base 307 on the sample rack moving mechanism may be slidablydisposed on the third guide rail 405, and may be connected with thesecond transmission belt 404. In this way, the whole sample rack movingmechanism may be driven by the third drive element 402 to move along thelength direction of the third guide rail 405 (i.e., along the X-axisdirection as shown in Figs., or along a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the length direction of the guide groove) through themovement of the second transmission belt 404, such that the guide groove5 along with the sample rack 5 on the guide groove 308 are enabled to beconveyed to the testing platform to convey the samples to the testingposition, and to return after the sample testing is completed.Similarly, in the aforementioned structure, the second transmission belt404 may be a synchronous belt provided with a drag chain 411.Accordingly, the second transmission belt can have accurate and reliabletransmission, small load, a compact structure and high transmissionefficiency.

It can be understood that, the third drive element 402 may be acombination of a nut and a lead screw for transmission. The support base307 can be connected to the nut, and the sample rack moving mechanismcan be driven to move through rotating the lead screw relative to thenut. Moreover, the aforementioned functions may also be realized byadopting linear bearing, which is not described herein.

Please Referring to FIG. 6 to FIG. 9 again, the temporary storingsection 2 may be designed according to the arrangement of the samplerack conveying device and the traverse conveying member 4, where theposition where the sample rack 5 is located should facilitate themovement and the connection with the support element 108. Referringspecifically to FIG. 8, the temporary storing section 2 may be driven bya drive piece to move, and can be provided with a plurality of grids 21arranged in parallel along its movement direction. In each grid 21, onesample rack 5 can be disposed. Each sample rack 5 may be loaded with oneor more sample tubes. A length direction of each grid 21 can besubstantially the same as the longitudinal movement direction of thesample rack 5, and a width of each grid can match that of the guidegroove 308, such that a movement center of the sample rack 5, asymmetrical center in the length direction of the grid 21 and asymmetrical center in the length direction of the guide groove 308 canbe substantially along a same line, thus not only being advantageous forthe movement of the sample rack 5, but also facilitating alignment ofeach grid 21 with the guide groove 308 after being moved. Referringfurther to FIG. 8, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, a throughslot 22 may be provided on a bottom plane of each grid 21 for placingthe sample rack 5. The through slot 22 may facilitate the insertion ofthe support element 108 (especially the opening 1081). After the supportelement 108 is connected and fixed to the sample rack 5, the opening1081 may move along the through slot 22, which not only avoids theinterference of the grid 21 with the support element 108, but also has aguiding effect when moving.

Referring to FIG. 7 to FIG. 9, in an embodiment of the sample rackconveying device of the present disclosure, a gear rack 408 may bedisposed on one side of the temporary storing section 2 along thetransverse direction (i.e., the direction substantially perpendicular tothe length direction of the guide groove or each grid). The gear rack408 may be provided with one or more tooth slots, where an amount of thetooth slot may correspond to that of the grids 21, i.e., the amount ofthe tooth slot may correspond to that of the sample racks 5 arranged onthe temporary storing section 2 along the transverse direction (i.e.,the direction substantially perpendicular to the length direction of theguide groove or each grid). A sensor may be disposed at a tail end ofthe gear rack 408. The sensor 410 may provide a sensing signal, suchthat the temporary storing section 2 may be moved forward and the samplerack conveying device may perform next action.

The operating process of the sample rack conveying device of the presentdisclosure is described hereinafter.

Referring to FIG. 10 to FIG. 11, the sample tube holding the sample tobe tested is located in the temporary storing section 2 before beingconveyed. At this time, a control system may send signals such that thesecond drive element 301 is started to drive the first driving wheel 302to rotate, and the first transmission belt 303 is driven by the drivenwheel 305 to move while driving the base 105 and the vertical movementmember 1 mounted on the base 105 to move along the second guide rail 304(the Y-axis direction) in a movement direction oriented toward thetemporary storing section 2. When the support element 108 moves tocorrespond to the bottom of the sample rack 5, the support element 108is at a low location with the highest part thereof to be lower than thesupport plane of the sample rack 5 on the temporary storing section 2(as shown in FIG. 10A), and the support element does not contact thesample rack 5. At this time, the optical coupler is triggered by thelight blocking plate 104 passing through the through slot of the opticalcoupler 102. The second drive element 301 may stop rotating while thefirst rotary motor 111 (the first driving element) may be started torotate the cam 106, such that the cam groove 1062 pushes the camfollower 107 to raise the support element 108 upward along the Z-axisdirection. The movement distance of the support element 108 depends onthe movement distance of the cam follower 107 in the cam groove 1062.The support element 108 becomes to be at a high location to be connectedwith the sample rack 5, and the light blocking plate 104 leaves thethrough slot of the optical coupler 102, such that the first rotarymotor 111 stops rotating while the cam follower 107 stops moving in thecam groove 1062 (as shown in FIG. 10B). At this time, the second driveelement 301 is started again to drive the first driving wheel 302 torotate reversely (as shown in FIG. 11A). The first transmission belt 301is driven by the first driven wheel 305 to move while driving the base105 and the vertical movement member 1 mounted on the base 105 to movealong the second guide rail 304 (the Y-axis direction) in a movementdirection oriented toward the guide groove 308 and to finally arrive atthe arrangement position of the guide groove 308 (as shown in FIG. 11B).At this time, the third drive element 402 is started to drive the seconddriving wheel 403 to rotate, and the second transmission belt 404 isdriven by the second driven wheel 406 to move while driving the supportbase 307 and the sample rack moving mechanism mounted on the supportbase 307 to move along the third guide rail 405 (the X-axis direction),so as to convey the sample rack 5 to the testing position. After thetesting is completed, the third drive element 402 is started reverselyto drive the sample rack 5 holding the tested sample to move reverselyalong the original path, and to finally return to the temporary storingsection 2. At this time, the sensor 410 may send a control signal suchthat the temporary storing section 2 moves along the transversedirection and the sample rack 5 in the next grid 21 is aligned with theguide groove 308 so as to begin the next cycle.

The present disclosure further provides a sample analyzing equipmentincluding the aforementioned sample rack conveying device capable ofconveying the sample tubes holding collected sample, testing andanalyzing the samples within the sample tubes. The whole equipment has asimple and compact structure, and high transmission accuracy, thuseffectively ensuring that samples are conveyed to the target positionand reliably ensuring the pathological examination and analysis.

What is described by the aforementioned embodiments and accompanyingdrawings of the present disclosure is merely the preferable embodimentsof the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the presentdisclosure. Any amendments, equivalent substitutions, or improvementsand so on within the spirit and principle of the present disclosureshould be included within the protection scope of the presentdisclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sample rack moving mechanism configured to movea sample rack from a storage section, the sample rack configured to holdone or more sample containers, wherein the sample rack moving mechanismcomprises: a first drive element including a first rotary motor and acam; a second drive element including a second rotary motor; a supportelement, connected to the first drive element and the second driveelement, that is driven by the first drive element to move substantiallyvertically, so that the support element attaches to or detaches from thesample rack, wherein the support element is further driven by the seconddrive element to move substantially horizontally, so that the samplerack moves horizontally together with the support element, wherein thesupport element is a fork-shaped element comprising two clawsrespectively provided at two sides of an opening, and a singular samplerack is to be held between the two claws in the opening; and a movableguide groove disposed outside the storage section that guides and holdsthe sample rack when the sample rack is horizontally moved by thesupport element from the storage section, wherein a length direction ofthe guide groove is the same as the substantially horizontal movingdirection of the support element.
 2. The sample rack moving mechanismaccording to claim 1, wherein the sample rack moving mechanismcomprises: the cam that comprises a curved contour and is fixedlyconnected to the first drive element, wherein the cam is driven by thefirst drive element to rotate; and a cam follower that cooperates withthe cam and moves along the curved contour of the cam; wherein thesupport element is fixedly connected to the cam follower and is drivenby the cam follower to move vertically, so that the support element isattached to or detached from the sample rack.
 3. The sample rack movingmechanism according to claim 2, wherein the cam is a disk-shapedcomponent, wherein the cam is driven to rotate by the first rotarymotor; the cam comprises an arc-shaped cam groove, wherein the camfollower is inserted within the cam groove and is slidable within thecam groove, wherein the cam is eccentrically disposed on an output shaftof the first rotary motor at a location configured to hold the supportelement horizontally parallel to the sample rack and to vertically movebetween a vertical distance between a first position that is verticallylower than the sample rack and a second position that is verticallyhigher than the sample rack.
 4. The sample rack moving mechanismaccording to claim 3, wherein the cam comprises a kidney-shaped outercontour and the cam groove is an arc-shaped groove penetrating throughthe disk-shaped component along an axial direction and is locatedadjacent to the kidney-shaped outer contour of the cam.
 5. The samplerack moving mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the first rotarymotor is fixed on a first mounting plate, a first guide rail is disposedon the first mounting plate, and the support element is guided along thefirst guide rail to move vertically so as to be attached to or detachedfrom the sample rack, the sample rack moving mechanism furthercomprising a support base for supporting the sample rack movingmechanism, wherein the second rotary motor is fixed at one end of thesupport base and the support element is driven indirectly via atransmission by the second rotary motor; wherein the transmissionmechanism comprises a first driving wheel disposed on an output shaft ofthe second rotary motor, and a first driven wheel fixed at an oppositeend of the support base; wherein a transmission belt is connectedbetween the first driving wheel and the first driven wheel, and isconnected with the support element; and wherein a second guide rail isdisposed in parallel with a transmission direction of the transmissionbelt, and a length direction of the second guide rail is substantiallysame as the horizontally moving direction of the support element, andthe support element together with the cam and the cam follower areguided along the second guide rail, such that the sample rack attachedto the support element is capable of being moved into or out of theguide groove.
 6. The sample rack moving mechanism according to claim 5,wherein an optical coupler is disposed on the first mounting plate, anda light blocking plate capable of cooperating with the optical coupleris disposed on the support element, wherein the light blocking plate isused to trigger the optical coupler to control the first rotary motor tobe turned on or off.
 7. A sample rack conveying device, comprising: astoring mechanism capable of being loaded with one or more sample racks,each sample rack capable of being loaded with one or more containers;and a sample rack moving mechanism supported by a support base andconfigured to remove a sample rack from the storing mechanism from itsholding position and/or return a sample rack to the storing mechanism,wherein the sample rack moving mechanism comprises: a first driveelement including a first rotary motor and a cam; a second drive elementincluding a second rotary motor; a support element, connected to thefirst drive element and the second drive element, that is driven by thefirst drive element to move substantially vertically, so that thesupport element is attached to or detached from the sample rack, whereinthe support element is further driven by the second drive element tomove substantially horizontally, so that the sample rack moveshorizontally together with the support element, wherein the supportelement is a fork-shaped element comprising two claws respectivelyprovided at two sides of an opening, and a singular sample rack is to beheld between the two claws in the opening; a movable guide groovedisposed outside the storing mechanism that guides and holds the samplerack when the sample rack is horizontally moved by the support elementfrom the storing mechanism the sample rack, wherein a length directionof the guide groove is the same as the substantially horizontal movingdirection of the support element, wherein the support element is capableof driving the sample rack to substantially horizontally move along theguide groove; and a third drive element that conveys the guide grooveholding the sample rack to a testing position, wherein the third driveelement conveys the guide groove along a direction substantiallyperpendicular to the length direction of the guide groove.
 8. The samplerack conveying device according to claim 7, wherein the sample rackmoving mechanism comprises: the cam that comprises a curved contour andis fixedly connected to the first drive element, wherein the cam isdriven by the first drive element to rotate; a cam follower thatcooperates with the cam and moves along the curved contour of the cam;wherein the support element is fixedly connected to the cam follower andis capable of being driven by the cam follower to move vertically, sothat the support element is capable of being attached to or detachedfrom the sample rack.
 9. The sample rack conveying device according toclaim 7, wherein a bottom plane of the guide groove and a support planeof the storing mechanism are located on a substantially same horizontalplane.
 10. The sample rack conveying device according to claim 7,wherein the first rotary motor is fixed on a first mounting plate, afirst guide rail is disposed on the first mounting plate, and thesupport element is guided along the first guide rail to move verticallyso as to be attached to or detached from the sample rack, furthercomprising third guide rail, and the support base for supporting theguide groove is driven by the third drive element to move along thethird guide rail, so as to convey the sample rack held in the guidegroove to or from a testing mechanism.
 11. The sample rack conveyingdevice according to claim 7, wherein the storing mechanism comprises athrough slot, the support element is capable of being inserted into thethrough slot, such that the support element is capable of being attachedto a bottom of a sample rack via the through slot.
 12. The sample rackconveying device according to claim 8, wherein the cam is a disk-shapedcomponent and is eccentrically disposed on an output shaft of the firstrotary motor, wherein the cam is driven to rotate by the first rotarymotor; the cam comprises a cam groove, wherein the cam follower isinserted within the cam groove and is slidable within the cam groove.13. The sample rack conveying device according to claim 8, wherein thefirst rotary motor is fixed on a first mounting plate, a first guiderail is disposed on the first mounting plate, and the support element isguided along the first guide rail to move vertically so as to beattached to or detached from the sample rack, wherein the second rotarymotor is fixed at one end of a support base of the sample rack movingmechanism and the support element is driven indirectly via atransmission by the second rotary motor; wherein the transmissionmechanism comprises a first driving wheel disposed on an output shaft ofthe second rotary motor, and a first driven wheel is fixed at anopposite end of the support base; wherein a transmission belt isconnected between the first driving wheel and the first driven wheel,and is connected with the support element; and wherein a second guiderail is disposed in parallel with a transmission direction of thetransmission belt, and a length direction of the second guide rail issubstantially same as the horizontally moving direction of the supportelement, and the support element together with the cam and the camfollower are guided along the second guide rail, such that the samplerack attached to the support element is capable of being moved into orout of the guide groove.
 14. A sample analyzing equipment for conveyinga sample rack capable of being loaded one or more sample containersholding a sample, testing and analyzing the sample, the equipmentcomprising: a testing mechanism for testing the sample; and a samplerack conveying device according to claim 7, wherein the sample rackconveying device is configured to convey the sample rack from thestoring mechanism to the testing mechanism for testing and return thesample rack from the testing mechanism to the storing mechanism aftertesting.